Testimony to begin next week in trial of alleged male rapist

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, January 10, 2008

A jury was selected Friday to consider the case against a 20-year-old man accused of robbing and raping other young men in a nearby refinery town.

Keith Hill is accused of stalking, sexually assaulting and robbing five young men in Baytown during an eight-month spree in 2006. Opening arguments were set for Monday

The case not only spread fear in the oil-refining town of 70,000 people about 30 miles east of Houston but also piqued the interest of those who study the criminal mind because the attacker preyed on men, something of a rarity in the world of crime.

The U.S. Justice Department says one in 33 men in the United States has been a victim of a rape or attempted rape, compared with one in six women. Experts say men are far less likely to report a rape to authorities, because they fear being perceived as weak or see the attack as an assault on their masculinity.

All the alleged victims were white. Hill is black. The jury chosen on Friday is made up 10 white women, two blacks and one Hispanic in the panel of 12 jurors and one alternate.

The trial is only focusing on one of the alleged attacks, which authorities say occurred in May 2006. Hill is accused of forcing a man to perform oral sex at gunpoint.

Prosecutor Spence Graham said authorities will decide how to proceed with the four other cases after Hill's trial.

"The families (of the victims) are all relieved the process is coming to a conclusion," he said.

Graham would not comment on why prosecutors decided the alleged May 2006 attack would be the first one to go to trial, saying he would not discuss evidence in the case before testimony began.

Laine Lindsey, Hill's attorney, said his client was innocent and declined further comment.

Posters were plastered around Baytown showing a sketch of a young man identified as a serial robber-rapist. The attacks occurred over various months in 2006, and local chat rooms and bulletin boards were flooded with postings reflecting worry.

Graham said prosecutors were not focused on the rarity of this type of crime.

"We see a lot of tragedy. A victim is a victim," he said.

If convicted, Hill could receive anything from five years probation to life in prison.

In the other cases, Hill, besides aggravated assault, also faces charges of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and aggravated kidnapping.